Even if the Canadian gets away against the Penguins, Martin St-Louis won’t be making any changes to his lineup for the visiting Kings.

Kirby Dach, who will not be training on Wednesday, will therefore remain in his position in the center of the second trio. Additionally, Jayden Struble was expected to play his first game of the season. It seems that this will not be the case.

“He missed too much time. “If he hadn’t missed so much time, he would have played,” the Canadian head coach said simply.

Watch Martin St-Louis’ press conference in the main video.

The defender, who was battling back pain, was absent from October 7th to 11th. He therefore only missed two full training sessions, on October 7th and 8th.

In short, Arber Xhekaj, who has struggled since the start of the campaign, will once again patrol the Habs’ blue line. At the end of the morning practice, he and St-Louis spoke for a few minutes.

“Arber plays well for long stretches of a game. Then he sometimes becomes less alert. He must be on alert for 60 minutes. Sometimes it’s difficult for a young defender, St-Louis argued.

The Canadiens’ head coach claimed that the 6-foot-1, 250-pound rear guard could move fairly well for a skater of his stature. His problem lies more in his interpretation of the game.

“You may have the best footwork, but if your eyes are constantly on the puck, you’re not using your feet properly. Arber has to work on that. He has to find his way quickly when he’s far from the puck.

Manage the start of the game well

The Kings come to Montreal the day after a 6-2 loss in Toronto. They will play a third game over four evenings. The Canadian seems to have easy prey. It will be up to him not to miss it.

“We should be the team with the most energy. You must plan the start of the game carefully to avoid them coming to life. “This is achieved by keeping things simple,” said St-Louis, noting, among other things, the importance of playing deep in the opponent’s territory.

“If we are persistent at the start of the game, we make the task more difficult. This is a team that has not had success in recent games. They need a win, so they will come out strong.”

Samuel Montembeault will start for the third time in a row. He recorded a 2-1-0 performance, a goals-against average of 2.03 and a save percentage of .942.

• Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who broke his leg last summer, skated alone in a tracksuit before team training.

Probable education of the Canadian

Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Newhook – Roof – Armia
Anderson–Evans–Gallagher
Heineman-Dvorak-Kapanen

Matheson–Guhle
Hutson–Savard
Xhekaj–Barron

Montembeault
Primeau

In collaboration with our partners